Oak Marble Gall Wasp

A follow-up to my previous post. The Oak Marble Gall that I picked up in the Coryton interchange last week revealed its secret this morning. I found a neat little hole in the gall and a little wasp in the pot. I assume this must be an Oak Marble Gall Wasp - Andricus kollari. (the grid is 2mm). Always wanted to see one of these gall wasps.

Oak Galls

Came across these whilst strolling through the Coryton interchange. I'm fairly sure the first is a Common Spangle oak gall, but is the second an Oak Apple gall or an Oak Marble gall ? Grateful for any guidance on this - it was still attached but fell off when I touched it. There are no exit holes that I can see.

False Widow spider

Saw this on the house wall on Friday night (29 September). Never seen a spider in the garden with this abdominal pattern - could this be Steatoda nobilis (Noble False Widow spider) ?

Lacewing larva ... in disguise ?

Spotted this on some ivy whilst walking up Longwood Drive, near Coryton, this afternoon. At first I thought it was a bit of detritus on the leaf, about the size of a small ladybird, then it moved and I saw the legs. 'Twas a bit breezy but I managed a couple of grab shots before it disappeared. The legs and mandibles can be seen in the first image and the back end of the abdomen in the second. Only thing I can find that looks remotely like this is a lacewing larva  ..... any advance on that?

Ivy Bee in Creigiau

Happy days. After weeks of scanning the ivy in Creigiau, I have finally found a couple of Ivy Bees (Collettes hederae) on the edge of the woods. One seemed to be taking time-out to blow bubbles - I have seen various Calliphora sp doing this, but failed to find a conclusive reason as to why they do it.

Lavernock Point NR 17/09/2107

With a bit of sun in the morning the butterflies where out in abundance, the Red Admirals feeding on either bramble or ivy and the Whites feeding on the devilsbit scabious. Also a few others about, plus for the moths a couple of Siver Y. Plenty of insects about but noted a female Volucella zonaria flying around and sometimes landing near the opening of a wasp nest?

Small Copper - 1         Red Admiral - 21       Comma - 2       Speckled Wood - 9        Small Whites

Painted Lady - 1         Small Tortoiseshell - 2      Large Whites       Silver Y - 2

Scorpion Fly taking lunch

Spotted this in one of the garden flower beds just before lunch today. This female Scorpion Fly is dining on trussed bee (?) courtesy of the spider's web cafe. Every now and then she went into a spin - the reason for this became clear when the web broke and she was able to continue her meal in comfort on a leaf table.